His original piece has so far sparked almost 2,000 complaints to press regulator Ipso.

But today MacKenzie revealed he himself planned to lodge a “formal complaint” with the broadcast watchdog for a breach of “impartiality”.

The Sun
Former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie writing in the tabloid today: 'Surely it makes sense that reporters, when dealing with Muslim terrorist outrages, don’t wear the headscarf'

He claimed Manji should not have worn her headscarf given the Nice attackers’ religious motivation was “central” to coverage of the incident.

He pointed to the Tory peer Baroness Waris, who sometimes wears a hijab on television, saying: “A Muslim woman does have a choice [to wear the clothing]”. Warsi has previously accused MacKenzie of peddling “respectable racism” and “xenophobia”.

“I will be looking at making a formal complaint to Ofcom under the section of the broadcasting code which deals with impartiality.

“Since the question of religious motivation was central to the coverage of the Nice attack, I would ask whether it is appropriate for a newsreader to wear religious attire that could undermine the viewers’ perception of impartiality.

“A Muslim woman does have a choice.”

But the comments provoked fury, including from Manji’s colleague Jon Snow.

The veteran broadcaster tweeted:

The Sun's Kelvin Mackenzie continues his bullying of my brilliant colleague @fatimamanji He just doen't know when he's beat.